How does the IIM selection and admission process work after CAT results?

The IIM admission process after CAT results operates across three distinct selection pathways, and understanding which pathway applies to which institute can save you significant time and stress.

Type A institutes — the BLACKI group, along with IIM Shillong, Vizag, and Sambalpur — send out free interest forms. You fill in the form, and the institute then shortlists candidates based on composite scores and application details. Filling the form does not guarantee an interview call; elimination happens at the shortlisting stage itself.

Type B institutes — IIM Rohtak, Amritsar, and Mumbai — release paid application forms alongside their cutoffs. IIM Mumbai waived fees in the most recent cycle. For Rohtak and Amritsar, most candidates who clear sectional cutoffs do tend to receive interview calls. One important note we'd flag here, based on what we've seen from experienced professionals tracking this process: don't fill Rohtak as a fallback unless you're genuinely interested — if you meet the cutoff, they will call you, and declining late in the process creates complications.

Type C is the CAP route — the Common Admission Process — covering newer IIMs including Udaipur, Trichy, Ranchi, and others. These institutes conduct combined offline interviews under a shared process. Candidates who narrowly miss CAP cutoffs may also be considered through the SAP (Supplementary Admission Process), which is worth tracking if you're targeting this group.

A few institute-specific details worth noting: IIM Vizag uniquely waitlists candidates for PI rounds rather than sending direct calls. Interview modes also vary — BLACKI and Shillong conduct offline interviews, Vizag runs them online, Amritsar and Mumbai are offline, and CAP interviews are held offline as well.

On the timeline: top IIMs typically release interview calls from late April onward. CAP calls generally go out by around May 10th. Interview locations span major metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai — with candidates selecting location preferences either through the college forms or based on CAT registration data. In our experience, travel costs for interview rounds are an underestimated expense for candidates based outside these cities, and it's worth budgeting for this early. Some aspirants have raised the need for online interview options for remote locations, though this remains inconsistently available across institutes.

When admission offers arrive, candidates are required to pay a booking fee within one week. Importantly, if a higher-ranked institute extends an offer later, you can withdraw your earlier acceptance and receive a full refund minus ₹1,000 — a provision that makes it relatively low-risk to hold an early offer while waiting on preferred colleges.

The composite score calculation — which determines shortlisting across most of these institutes — is a common source of confusion. The picture that emerges from experienced applicants is that elimination happens in layers: first at the shortlisting stage, then post-interview. Not every form-filler receives a call, and clarity on composite score weightages specific to each institute is worth researching before you decide which forms to fill.